Wide-band RF photonic receivers and other devices using two optical modes of different quality factors

ABSTRACT

This document provides techniques, apparatus and designs for using electro-optic WGM resonators that support two different families of optical WGM modes with different quality factors in various applications. A radio frequency (RF) resonator is formed on the optical resonator and structured to supply an RF field and spatially overlaps the RF field of the RF resonator with the first and second optical whispering gallery modes to cause RF energy in the RF field at a first RF carrier frequency to couple with the first optical whispering gallery mode and RF energy in the RF field at a second RF carrier frequency to couple with the second optical whispering gallery mode.

PRIORITY CLAIMS AND RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/510,244 filed Jul. 27, 2009 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,452,139B1), which claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/083,844 filed Jul. 25, 2008. The entire content of thebefore-mentioned patent applications is incorporated by reference aspart of the disclosure of this application.

BACKGROUND

This patent document relates to techniques, apparatus and systems for RFand photonic applications based on optical resonators.

Optical resonators can be configured in various configurations. Examplesof well-known optical resonator designs includes Fabry-Perot opticalresonators and optical ring resonators. As another example, an opticalmaterial such as a dielectric material may be shaped to construct anoptical whispering-gallery-mode (“WGM”) resonator which supports one ormore resonator modes known as whispering gallery (“WG”) modes. These WGmodes represent optical fields confined in an interior region close tothe surface of the resonator due to the total internal reflection at theboundary. Microspheres with diameters from few tens of microns toseveral hundreds of microns have been used to form compact optical WGMresonators. Such spherical resonators include at least a portion of thesphere that comprises the equator of the sphere. The resonator dimensionis generally much larger than the wavelength of light so that theoptical loss due to the finite curvature of the resonators is small. Asa result, a high quality factor, Q, e.g., greater than 10⁹, may beachieved in such resonators. Hence, optical energy, once coupled into awhispering gallery mode, can circulate within the WGM resonator with along photon life time. Such hi-Q WGM resonators may be used in manyapplications, including optical filtering, optical delay, opticalsensing, lasers, and opto-electronic oscillators.

SUMMARY

This document provides techniques, apparatus and designs for usingelectro-optic WGM resonators that support two different families ofoptical WGM modes with different quality factors in variousapplications.

In one aspect, a device is provided to include an optical resonatorcomprising an electro-optic material having a refractive indexresponsive to an electric field and structured to support at least onefirst optical whispering gallery mode having a first quality factor, andat least one second optical whispering gallery mode with a secondquality factor less than the first quality factor; and a radio frequency(RF) resonator formed on the optical resonator and structured tospatially overlap an RF field of the RF resonator with the first andsecond optical whispering gallery modes to cause RF energy in the RFfield at a first RF carrier frequency to couple with the first opticalwhispering gallery mode and RF energy in the RF field at a second RFcarrier frequency to couple with the second optical whispering gallerymode.

In another aspect, a method is provide to couple laser light into anoptical resonator that includes an electro-optic material having arefractive index responsive to an electric field and structured tosupport at least one first optical whispering gallery mode having afirst quality factor, and at least one second optical whispering gallerymode with a second quality factor less than the first quality factor.This method includes applying an RF field on a radio frequency (RF)resonator formed on the optical resonator and structured to spatiallyoverlap an RF field of the RF resonator with the first and secondoptical whispering gallery modes, to cause RF energy in the RF field ata first RF carrier frequency to couple with the first optical whisperinggallery mode and RF energy in the RF field at a second RF carrierfrequency to couple with the second optical whispering gallery mode.

These and other examples and implementations are described in detail inthe drawings, the detailed description, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of an electro-optic whispering gallerymode resonator as an optical modulator.

FIGS. 2( a) and 2(b) show two examples of electro-optic WGM resonatorsthat support two different families of optical WGM modes with differentquality factors.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an electro-optic WGM resonator that supportstwo different families of optical WGM modes with different qualityfactors and has two optical couplers for coupling light in the twodifferent modes.

FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C show simulation results of optical coupling in WGMresonators.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a segmented an electro-optic WGM resonatorthat supports two different families of optical WGM modes with differentquality factors.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an RF photonic receiver based on anelectro-optic WGM resonator that supports two different families ofoptical WGM modes with different quality factors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Many WGM resonators are axially or cylindrically symmetric around asymmetry axis around which the WG modes circulate in a circular path orthe equator. The exterior surface of such a resonator is smooth andprovides spatial confinement to light around the circular plane tosupport one or more WG modes. The exterior surface may be curved towardthe symmetry axis to spatially confine the light along the symmetryaxis. A WGM resonator may be shaped symmetrically around a symmetry axisand has a protruded belt region to form a circular path to confine lightin one or more WG modes. The exterior surface of the protruded beltregion may be any suitable geometrical shape such as a flat surface or acurved surface. Such a WGM resonator may be configured in any suitablephysical size for a given wavelength of light. Various materials can beused for WGM resonators and include, for example, crystal materials andnon-crystal materials. Some examples of suitable dielectric materialsinclude fused silica materials, glass materials, lithium niobatematerials, and calcium fluoride materials.

A whispering gallery mode resonator can be made of a material exhibitingan electro-optic effect and can include electrodes on the opticalresonator to apply an RF or microwave signal to the optical resonator toeffectuate the electro-optic effect to control the one or more opticalwhispering gallery modes circulating along a circular optical loop neara rim of the optical resonator. The electro-optic effect in such a WGMresonator can be used to tune the resonator and to modulate light for awide range of applications.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of an electro-optic WGM resonator 100having a WGM resonator 110. The electro-optic material for the entire orpart of the resonator 610 may be any suitable material, including anelectro-optic crystal such as Lithium Niobate (“Lithium Niobateresonator”) and semiconductor multiple quantum well structures. One ormore electrodes 111 and 112 may be formed on the resonator 110 to applya control electrical field in at least the region where the WG modes arepresent to control the index of the electro-optical material and tochange the filter function of the resonator. Assuming the resonator 110has disk or ring geometry, the electrode 111 may be formed on the top ofthe resonator 110 and the electrode 112 may be formed on the bottom ofthe resonator 110 as illustrated in the side view of the device in FIG.1B. In one implementation, the electrodes 111 and 112 may constitute anRF or microwave resonator to apply the RF or microwave signal toco-propagate along with the desired optical WG mode. For example, theelectrodes 111 and 112 may be microstrip line electrodes. The electrodes111 and 112 may also form an electrical waveguide to direct theelectrical control signal to propagate along the paths of the WG modes.An RF or microwave circuit 130 such as a control circuit may be used tosupply the electrical control signal to the electrodes 111 and 112.

An optical evanescent coupler 150, such as an optical prism, a waveguidetaper, or a photonic bandgap material coupler, is provided to provideoptical coupling to and from the WGM resonator 110. For example, laserlight from a laser can be injected via evanescent coupling into theresonator 110. The same coupler 150 may also be used to retrieve lightinside the resonator 110 as output light to injected back into the laserto lock the laser via injection locking. The light inside the resonator110 can be coupled into a photodetector, which can be a detector of asufficient response speed to detect the baseband RF signal modulated onto the light by the modulator in response to the received RF signalapplied to the electrodes 111 and 112. As an example, the detector canbe a 5-MHz photodiode that detect video signals.

In operating the tunable resonator 100, the control unit 130 may supplya voltage as the electrical control signal to the electrodes 111 and112. The control voltage may be a DC voltage to set the resonance peakof the resonator 100 at a desired spectral location. The DC voltage maybe adjusted by the control unit 130 to tune the spectral position of thetransmission peak when such tuning is needed. For dynamic tuningoperations, the control unit 130 adjusts the control voltage in responseto a control signal to, e.g., maintain the transmission peak at adesired spectral position or frequency or to change the frequency of thetransmission peak to a target position. In some other operations, thecontrol unit 130 may adjust the control voltage in a time varyingmanner, e.g., scanning the transmission peak at a fixed or varying speedor constantly changing the transmission peak in a predetermined manneror to produce signal modulation. In some applications, both a modulationelectrical signal and a DC electrical signal can be applied to theelectrodes on the resonator 100.

For example, a Z-cut LiNbO₃ disk cavity with a diameter of d=4.8 mm anda thickness of 170 μm may be used as the resonator 110. The cavityperimeter edge may be prepared in the toroidal shape with a 100 μmradius of curvature. As an alternative to the strip electrodes shown inFIG. 1A, the top and bottom surfaces of the disk resonator may be coatedwith conductive layers for receiving the external electrical controlsignal. A metal such as indium may be used to form the conductivecoatings. Tuning is achieved by applying and adjusting a voltage to thetop and bottom conductive coatings. Each conductive coating may beabsent on the central part of the resonator and are present at theperimeter edge of the resonator where WGMs are localized.

One technical feature of such an electro-optic WGM resonator is thephase matching between the applied RF and microwave signal and the lightin a WGM inside the resonator to provide efficient interaction betweenthe light and the applied RF and microwave signal. The geometry of theelectrodes on the WGM resonator can be designed to facilitate this phasematching.

For an optical WGM in the resonator 110, the high Q factor leads to ahigh finess F and thus a narrow bandwidth in the optical WGM resonance.In various RF and other applications based on high-Q WGM resonators,wide bandwidths are desirable. The techniques in this document can beused to provide wide RF bandwidths while maintaining high qualityfactors to preserve the spectral selectivity and detection sensitivityof the devices. An electro-optic optical WGM resonator with twodifferent optical modes of two different quality factors is used toimplement the techniques described in this document. In oneimplementation, laser light is coupled into an optical resonator thatincludes an electro-optic material having a refractive index responsiveto an electric field and structured to support at least one firstoptical whispering gallery mode having a first quality factor, and atleast one second optical whispering gallery mode with a second qualityfactor less than the first quality factor. An RF field is applied on aradio frequency (RF) resonator formed on the optical resonator andstructured to spatially overlap an RF field of the RF resonator with thefirst and second optical whispering gallery modes, to cause RF energy inthe RF field at a first RF carrier frequency to couple with the firstoptical whispering gallery mode and RF energy in the RF field at asecond RF carrier frequency to couple with the second optical whisperinggallery mode. The first optical whispering gallery mode with a high Qcan be used to provide the laser light inside the optical resonator bycoupling the laser light into this mode. The second optical whisperinggallery mode with the low Q can be used to perform optical modulation tocarry an RF signal onto an optical band generated by the opticalmodulation.

This use of two different optical WGM modes with different Q valuesprovide a practical approach to increasing the bandwidth of the resonantRF photonic devices such as an RF photonic receiver, without asignificant degradation of the device sensitivity by RF coupling twooptical modes one of which possesses a high Q factor and the othercomparably low Q factor. The immediate bandwidth of such a receiver isgiven by the low-Q mode, while the high-Q mode results in maintainingthe receiver sensitivity. Techniques are provided for realization ofsuch a device when the RF coupling between two different mode families.In this approach, one mode family can be loaded significantly strongerthan the other. The RF coupling between the modes can be realized with acomposite lithium niobate (LN) or lithium tantalite (LT) resonator thatincludes several parts with different directions of the optical axis(similar to periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) structures. Aninhomogeneous RF field in the resonator also can be used for thecoupling. Proper spectrum engineering of WGM resonators can be used tofurther increase the reception bandwidth without degradation of receiversensitivity.

One of advantages of electro-optic crystalline whispering gallery mode(WGM) resonators is their high quality (Q) factor resulting in highsensitivity of photonic RF receivers utilizing the resonators. Lithiumniobate and lithium tantalate WGM resonators with quality factors inexcess of 2×10⁸ have been demonstrated. These resonators have beendesigned for modulators in photonic front end receiver applicationsoperating in the frequency bands ranging from X- to Ka-band. The qualityfactors of all the WGMs used in the receiver are generally the samebecause the modes of the same family are used.

Many of such receivers have a bandwidth that is narrow, e.g., less thana few megahertz. Such a narrow bandwidth value restricts the number ofapplications of the receivers. Increasing of the bandwidth at theexpense of the optical Q factor results in a decrease of the receiversensitivity, which is proportional to Q². This narrow bandwidth may beinappropriate in some applications because increase of the receptionbandwidth from, e.g., 5 MHz to 500 MHz, leads to an decrease of 10⁴ inthe device sensitivity, insufficient for many applications. Moreover, itbecomes more difficult to realize the injection locking of the laserpumping of the resonator to the lower Q WGMs.

In the present techniques, two optical WGM modes having significantlydifferent Q values are used. One mode, the mode with the highestachievable Q, is used for optical pumping. Because of the high Q (=Q1)factor of the mode, the pumping laser can be easily locked to theresonator using the injection locking technique. The other mode, themode with lower Q (=Q2), is used to produce optical sidebands in themodulator/receiver. The bandwidth of the receiver is given by the modewith the lower Q, Q2. The sensitivity is proportional to the productQ1Q2. For instance, if we use a resonator with Q1=10⁹ and Q2=10⁷, thesensitivity of the corresponding receiver corresponds to the sensitivityof the usual receiver having Q=10⁸. The bandwidth of the proposedreceiver corresponds to the bandwidth of the usual receiver havingQ=10⁷.

Different mode families in an optical resonator can be used to providesignificantly different Qs of the modes. It is possible to unload a WGMbelonging to one mode family and overload a WGM belonging to anothermode family using two couplers, for instance. One technical issue is howto realize the coupling between the two different modes and the appliedRF field. Two exemplary techniques are provided here for this coupling.

In the first technique, the RF resonator as well as optical resonatorare designed in such a way that the RF field would be inhomogeneous inthe volume where the optical modes are localized. This is possible ifthe optical resonator has, e.g. a conical shape and/or a narrow stripline RF resonator is used in the receiver. An RF resonator can be usedwith the conical resonator. FIG. 2( a) shows an example of such a WGMresonator here a single electro-optic crystalline material is used.

In the second technique, the optical resonator is made out of two ormore polished pieces of an electro-optic crystal with the crystallineaxes directed oppositely in each pair of pieces. The resonator can bemade via optical contact or glued with transparent epoxy, etc. The RFresonator can be made out of strip line. Other morphologies of RFresonators are possible. FIG. 2( b) shows an example of a resonator withtwo segmented pieces stacked over each other with opposite crystallineaxes.

In some implementations, it is possible to achieve, at the same time, anefficient RF coupling between the basic (high-Q) and several auxiliary(low-Q) optical mode families in the resonators with two different modesof different Q values. Hence, it is possible to further increase thebandwidth of the receiver by 3 dB or so without sensitivity degradationby creating a doublet (a multiplet) of low Q modes belonging to severalauxiliary mode families. The RF signal can be used to cause couplingbetween the high-Q mode and a low-Q mode at one carrier RF frequency,and another low-Q mode at other carrier frequency.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a two-mode WGM resonator based on the above.A WGM resonator 310 is made of an electro-optic material and supports atleast a first high-Q WGM mode and a second low-Q WGM mode. RF electrodes320 are formed on the resonator 310 to apply an RF signal. A firstoptical coupler 311 is optically coupled to the resonator 310 to couplelight in the first high-Q WGM mode and a second, separate opticalcoupler 312 is optically coupled to the resonator 310 to couple light inthe second low-Q WGM mode. A laser 301 is provided to produce laserlight for optically energizing the resonator 310 and the laser light isdirected to the coupler 311. The same coupler 311 may also be used tocouple light in the first WGM mode out of the resonator 310 and directthe light back into the laser 310 to achieve injection locking of thelaser 301 to the first high-Q WGM mode.

FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C show simulated optical coupling under differentconditions. FIG. 4A shows normalized RF coupling coefficient betweenWGMs of a homogeneous cylindrical resonator with the crystalline axiscoinciding with the symmetry axis of the cylinder as shown in FIG. 2(a). Integer abscissa coordinates correspond to the quantum mode numbersj′. We consider the RF coupling between optically pumped modes havingtransverse quantum number equal to j=1 (the basic mode sequence) and allmodes of the resonator separated from the given pumped mode by FSR andhaving numbers j′. Hence, there is a strong coupling between the modesbelonging to the same, basic, mode family (j′=j=1), however there is nocoupling between the modes in the basic mode family (j=1) and the othermode families. We are unable to load one mode belonging to the basicmode family and unload the modes belonging to the same family anddetuned by an FSR from the optically pumped mode. The modes arelocalized in the same geometrical area. Hence, a resonant WGM receiverbased on such a resonator should have a narrow bandwidth and possesslarge sensitivity.

FIG. 4B shows normalized RF coupling coefficient between WGMs of thecomposite cylinder consisting of two identical cylinders with theopposite direction of the crystalline axis as shown in FIG. 2( b).Consider the RF coupling between the modes having transverse quantumnumber equal to j=1 (the basic mode sequence) and all the modes of theresonator separated from the given mode by FSR and having numbers j′.There is no coupling between the modes belonging to the basic modefamily (j′=j=1), however there is a coupling between the modes in thebasic mode family and modes with j′=2, 4, 6, etc. Those modes do notoverlap completely to allow loading one mode and unloading the other. Torealize the wide band receiver we need to load the auxiliary modes andcritically load modes with j=1.

FIG. 4C shows normalized RF coupling coefficient between WGMs of thecomposite cylinder consisting of two identical cylinders with theopposite direction of the crystalline axis in FIG. 2( b). Consider theRF coupling between modes having transverse quantum number equal to j=5and all the modes of the resonator separated from the given mode by FSRand having numbers j′. As shown by FIG. 4C, there is no coupling betweenthe modes belonging to the same mode family (j′=j=5), however there is acoupling between modes with j′=4 and j′=6. Hence, to realize the wideband receiver, we need to load modes with j′=4 and 6, and criticallyload modes with j=5.

An analysis for electrooptic coupling between two different WGM familiesof the same polarization is provided below.

First, consider a WGM reosnator with an inhomogenous RF filed. Torealize an single sideband electro-optic modulatoin (SSB EOM), the modeswith j_(a)≠j_(b) are used to interact with the applied RF field on theresonator. This is possible if the RF field is inhomogeneous within theoptical resonator, for example, if

${{E_{M}(z)} = {{E_{M}(0)}\left\lbrack {1 + {\xi_{1}\frac{\pi\left( {z - L} \right)}{L}} + {\xi_{2}\frac{{\pi^{2}\left( {L - z} \right)}^{2}}{L^{2}}}} \right\rbrack}},$where ξ₁ and ξ₂ are some dimensionless numeric parameters. The linearinhomogeneity of the RF field mixes any odd and even WGM modes

${\frac{\zeta_{1}\left( {j_{a},j_{b}} \right)}{\zeta_{0}\left( {j,j} \right)} = {{- \frac{8\xi_{1}}{\pi}}\frac{j_{a}j_{b}}{\left( {j_{a} - j_{b}} \right)^{2}}}},$where ζ₀(j,j) is the phase matching coefficient for the same family ofWGMs interacting with the RF. The quadratic nonlinearity mixes all themodes

$\frac{\zeta_{2}\left( {j_{a},j_{b}} \right)}{\zeta_{0}\left( {j,j} \right)} = {\frac{8\xi_{2}j_{a}j_{b}}{\left( {j_{a}^{2} - j_{b}^{2}} \right)^{2}}.}$

Another way to couple RF and WGMs with different js is to create asegmented resonator having two lithium niobate or lithium tantalatedisks with opposite directions of c-axis as shown in FIG. 2( b). All themodes having different J-numbers can interact in such resonators. Inthis case the overlap integral is proportional to

${\frac{\zeta_{3}\left( {j_{a},j_{b}} \right)}{\zeta_{0}\left( {j,j} \right)} = {{\frac{2}{L}\left\lbrack {\int_{0}^{L_{1}}{- \int_{L_{1}}^{L}}} \right\rbrack}{\sin\left\lbrack \frac{\pi\; j_{a}z}{L} \right\rbrack}{\sin\left\lbrack \frac{\pi\; j_{b}z}{L} \right\rbrack}{\mathbb{d}z}}},$where L₁ is the thickness of one of the discs. Varying L₁ it is possibleto achieve phase matching for interaction of RF with optical modesbelonging to different families. For instance, if L₁=L/√{square rootover (2)}, we have for the first mode ζ₃(1,1)≈0.72ζ₀(1,1),ζ₃(1,2)≈0.43ζ₀(1,1), ζ₃(1,4)≈0.21ζ₀(1,1), and so on.

Under the condition of L₁=L/2, it is possible to have an efficient RFcoupling between modes j and j±1. For instance, the first mode can becoupled to all even modes ζ₃(1,2)≈0.85ζ₀(1,1), ζ₃(1,4)≈−0.34ζ₀(1,1),ζ₃(1,6)≈0.22ζ₀(1,1). The second mode can be coupled to all odd modesζ₃(2,1)≈0.85ζ₀(1,1), ζ₃(2,3)≈−0.34ζ₀(1,1), ζ₃(2,5)≈−0.12ζ₀(1,1). On theother hand, the coupling between the modes of the same family does notoccur in such a resonator.

FIG. 5( a) shows a photograph of the segmented resonator fabricated outof lithium tantalate. FIGS. 5( b) and 5(c) show photographs ofinterference fringes arising between r and a flat surface taken in greenlight. The connection between the segments can be nearly seamless.

Samples of several segmented WGM resonators were fabricated out oflithium tantalate. The resonators have 1.25 mm in diameter and 100 μm inthickness and include two nearly identical segments with opposite polingglued to each other. The optical Q-factor of the WGM resonators exceeds2×10⁸, which basically shows that the epoxy does not degrade theQ-factor of the optical modes (Q-factor of typical LiTaO₃ resonators wemake is approximately the same).

The above WGM resonators with two different modes of different Q valuescan be used to construct various devices including RF photonicreceivers.

FIG. 6 shows one implementation of an RF receiver with a single WGMresonator for modulation and laser injection locking. The laser 1100provides laser light to optically pump the electro-optic WGM resonator1300. Optics 1110 is provided to direct the laser light from the laser1100 to the resonator 1300. A high sensitivity lithium niobate resonanceWGM light modulator is provided to receive the stabilized laser lightfrom the laser 1100 and to modulate the received light based on thereceived RF signal 1500 via an RF antenna 3400 (e.g., at 35 GHz). Themodulator includes the electro-optical WGM resonator 1300 made of anelectro-optic material and has electrodes 1310 formed thereon to apply acontrol voltage to change the index of the resonator to cause opticalmodulation to light confined in one or more WG modes. The RF antenna3400 is electrically coupled to the electrodes 1310 on the resonator1300 to apply the received RF signal 1500 to the resonator 1300 tomodulate light inside the resonator 1300. An optical evanescent coupler1124, such as an optical prism, is provided to provide optical couplingto and from the WGM resonator 1300 for light in the high-Q WGM mode. Thelaser light from the laser 1100 is injected via evanescent coupling intothe resonator 1300 and to retrieve light inside the resonator 1300 fromthe resonator 1300 as output light. A second optical coupler, designedfor coupling light in the low-Q WGM mode, is provided to couple lightout of the resonator 1300 into the detector 3100 which is a near-fieldcoupled high speed photodiode evanescently coupled the resonator 1300 todetect light and to produce a detector signal. This signal is sent to afeedback control circuit 3300 which conditions the signal, e.g.,controlling the phase or delay of the signal and filtering the signal toselect a particular frequency in the feedback loop. An amplifier 3310 isconnected downstream from the circuit 330 to amplify the signal as afeedback signal to a signal combiner 3320. The signal combiner 3320 iscoupled to an antenna or receiver circuit 3400 that receives the RFsignal 1500 and combines the signal from the amplifier 3310 and the RFsignal 1500 into a control signal. This control signal is fed into theelectrodes 1310 on the resonator 1300 to modulate the light inside themodulator 1300. This design forms an opto-electronic loop with anoptical portion that includes the optical resonator 1300 as an opticaldelay element and an optical modulator, and an electrical portion whichincludes the photodiode 3100, the circuit 3300, the amplifier 3310, thesignal combiner 3320 and the electrodes 1300. This is a closed loop andcan be operated to have a loop gain higher than the loop loss and thefeedback to the resonator 1300 can be in phase. Under such conditions,the closed loop is a positive feedback loop and will oscillate as anopto-electronic oscillator (0E0) at a frequency at which the light inthe resonator 1300 is modulated. In this OEO, the laser light from thelaser 1100 is also modulated due to the feedback light from theresonator 1300. The resonator 1300 provide the optical delay in the loopto reduce the phase noise of the loop that may be difficult to achievewith a conventional RF voltage-controlled oscillator. As indicated, anRF output can be generated in the electrical portion of theopto-electronic loop, e.g., at the signal combiner 3320. A seconddetector 3200 is used to provide low frequency detection for monitoringthe injection locking operation.

Another detector of a sufficient response speed can also be provided toreceive light coupled out of the second optical coupler for couplinglight in the low-Q WGM mode. This detector is used to detect thebaseband RF signal modulated on to the light by the modulator 1300 inresponse to the received RF signal 1500 at the RF antenna 3400. As anexample, this second detector can be a 5-MHz photodiode that detectsvideo signals.

While this document contains many specifics, these should not beconstrued as limitations on the scope of an invention or of what may beclaimed, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particularembodiments of the invention. Certain features that are described inthis document in the context of separate embodiments can also beimplemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, variousfeatures that are described in the context of a single embodiment canalso be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in anysuitable subcombination. Moreover, although features may be describedabove as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed assuch, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some casesbe excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may bedirected to a subcombination or a variation of a subcombination.

Only a few implementations are disclosed. However, it is understood thatvariations, enhancements and other implementations can be made based onwhat is described and illustrated in this document.

What is claimed is:
 1. A radio frequency (RF) photonic receiver based onphotonic signal processing via an electro-optic effect, comprising: anoptical resonator formed of an electro-optic material and shaped tosupport (1) at least one high quality factor optical mode having anarrow bandwidth, and (2) at least one low quality factor optical modewith a broader bandwidth than the narrow bandwidth of the high qualityfactor optical mode; an optical coupler that couples external laserlight into the optical resonator in the high quality factor optical modeinto the narrow bandwidth to optically energize the optical resonator;means for applying a spatially inhomogeneous RF field to theelectro-optical material in a region of the optical resonator where thehigh quality factor and low quality factor optical modes are localizedto cause optical coupling that transfers optical energy from the highquality factor optical mode to the low quality factor optical mode;means for applying an RF signal modulation in the RF field to cause anelectro-optic modulation of the light in the low quality factor opticalwhispering gallery mode to produce modulated light in the low qualityfactor optical mode that carries the RF signal modulation in the broaderbandwidth than the narrow bandwidth of the high quality factor opticalmode; and means for converting the modulated light in the low qualityfactor optical mode into an RF output signal that carries RF signalmodulation, thus effectuating an increase in the bandwidth of the RFphotonic receiver beyond what is permitted by the narrow bandwidth ofthe high quality factor optical mode of the optical resonator.
 2. The RFphotonic receiver as in claim 1, comprising: a feedback control circuitthat produces a feedback control signal from the RF output signal aspart of the RF field that is applied to the electro-optical material toenable a closed opto-electrical loop to cause a signal oscillation inthe RF photonic receiver.
 3. The RF photonic receiver as in claim 1,wherein the optical resonator is a conically shaped whispering gallerymode resonator, and the high quality factor optical mode and the lowquality factor optical mode are whispering gallery modes.
 4. The RFphotonic receiver as in claim 1, wherein the optical resonator is awhispering gallery mode resonator, and the high quality factor opticalmode and the low quality factor optical mode are whispering gallerymodes.